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Brittni Cameron

Professor Wolcott

ENC 3331

11-19-12

Rhetorical Citizenship: To be Civically Engaged

The terms rhetorical and citizenship both sum up civic engagement. In the book

“Rhetoric in Civic Life”, one popular rhetorician, Aristotle, defines rhetoric as “try both to test

and uphold an argument and to defend themselves and attack” (Aristotle). Even though he has

several definitions for this word, this one is the most relatable. Leith, another rhetorician, took

Aristotle’s perspective into consideration, but he also had a very different perspective on the

definition of rhetoric. It appears that Leiths definition is a tad more subtle “the attempt by one

human being to influence another in words” (Leith). Whereas, referencing the word “attack”

portrays that Aristotle’s viewpoint is much more complicated compared to his. In addition,

Aristotle describes rhetoric as “tecne”, while Leith uses the word attempt, which resembles an

unguarded nature.

Furthermore, citizenship, a term that coincides with rhetoric has been defined in the

article “In the Name of Citizenship: The Writing Classroom and the Promise of Citizenship” by

Amy Wan. One of the major emphasizes in the text is that “successful writing instruction plays a

key role in the preparation of good citizens” (Wan 28). Ideally, rhetoric is the teaching tool to

practice citizenship. “Successful” citizenship may not exist without the teaching of rhetoric. In

her teaching, she has three requirement that establish citizenship: “(1) the infinite flexibility that

comes from shifting definitions of citizenship; (2) the pervasive belief that citizenship is an

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achievable status by individuals who have the will for it; and (3) the implicit understanding that

equality and social mobility are synonymous with and can be achieved through citizenship”

(Wan 29-30). Although these can be used as teaching tools, citizenship is ultimately defied by

rhetoric.

Much of Mathieu’s text “Tactics of Hope: The Public Turn in English Composition”

portrays the educational aspect of rhetoric. She talks about other writers such as Weisser, whose

opinion is that several professors try to make their writing more appealing by calling it “public.”

However, at first glance, one might wonder what the word “public” is actually referencing, or

what is it that makes that word so appealing. Therefore, it complicates what is considered

“public”, the confusion separates itself from the consequences of trying to make it more

attractive to its writers. Also in her text, she includes how college freshmen consider the “payoff

of a course relies purely in the grade” (Mathieu). Students need to interact with the educational

experience and focus more on the skills they acquire from a rhetoric class. The article places

great emphasis on the fact that to be a successful public writer you must also know topics of

history and politics because that is the only way you’re going to be able to write for an audience.

An example Mathieu uses are the reference of C.; the activist focuses on the education

aspect, but also the significance of participation. His position as a public writer is admirable

because he uses his job as tool to evoke emotion. His job as a citizen is to be thought provoking

through rhetoric. The activist mentions how he uses “Jesus Christ Froze to Death” and in

reference to elders “how do you like them, boiled, friend? (Mathieu), which essentially grab the

audience’s attention. Those examples help you become a better citizen for the long haul

Diehl also focuses on the participation aspect of rhetorical citizenship. Diehl’s article “ is

an example of the mapping project our class created. Their program, Grassroots focuses on

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writing and mapping as one. One reference is “being able to give a viewpoint a voice” (Diehl).

Mapping has become such a motivational tool in the sense that for the exercise and walking map,

it is crucial for a healthy lifestyle. By combining the physical aspects of the world into the

rhetoric sense it makes room for an ideal citizen. Therefore, being educated in a tool such as

Grassroots enables you to be able to participate in the real world through the use of rhetoric.

Throughout my twenty one years of life, I have a few citizenship experiences that stand

out the most. In high school, my biggest contribution to civic engagement was joining the Sea

Club. It was a club whose efforts were to help better the environment by keeping it clean. In

doing so, the club would meet outside of school to clean up trash on the beach and enact

awareness through the power of voice. The club was effective in such a way that grabbed the

attention of our administrators. My teacher in charge of Sea Club ended up using rhetoric to

implement a school wide recycling program. That was the first year any class had gotten the

opportunity to do take on such a significant role in the community. This goal was achieved

through rhetorical citizenship. It was our duty as citizens to show them the severity of the

problems because it is the environment in which we live and therefore, it is our job to maintain it.

As a result, our efforts as a rhetorical citizen didn’t go unnoticed.

In addition, during this semester, in a group effort the class created a map on

transportation issues in the UCF/ Orlando area. My groups map focuses on locations of bike

racks on the UCF campus which is ideal for students that ride their bikes on campus. Although,

we weren’t able to get in touch with Alaina from Landscape & Natural Resources, I feel like if

more people saw the problem, it would enact awareness and then she might take a second look at

the growing problem. If not, there are still several opportunities for cyclists and students at UCF

to get in touch with the right people to change the bike rack issue. Most importantly, I hope our

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map gets in the hands of the right people so that it can be used as a tool for the department of

Landscape and Natural Resources. It’s not that students are ignoring bike racks as a problem, it’s

more so a lack of agency. At the end of that project, I truly felt that I did my part as a citizen and

feel that our map has a potential to flourish.

Lastly, this class took place during an election year and when I found out that President

Barack Obama would be speaking at UCF, I felt that it was my duty as a citizen to go see him. In

politics, rhetoric and citizenship go hand in hand. No matter what political party one is affiliated

with, I feel that it is their obligation to surround themselves with the necessary tools to become

aware of each party. When I found out Obama would not be there to speak, I saw several people

turn away. However, I knew this wasn’t an opportunity that happened every day and felt that as

part of this country I had to stay to see Clinton. Although I know this is just my opinion, when I

think of civic engagement I think largely of politics and environment. Civic engagement to me is

one who is active within their community and practices awareness.

Over the course of this class, I have experienced that it is ideal to be knowledgeable of

rhetoric and citizenship in order to be civically engaged. I feel like each of these terms falls back

on the other. Without rhetoric, one wouldn’t be a successful citizen and without civic

engagement, there might not be the true defining meaning of citizenship. Looking back on the

activities that I consider civic engagement, that I have done up until this point, I realize that I

could have gotten so much more involved. After learning the significance of civic engagement

within my community, I don’t think I could go back to how idle I was before. Whether it be

online, or in the “real world”, I consider myself a rhetorical citizen who continue to practice

being civically engaged within society. There really is no sufficient excuse as to why it is

acceptable to be any other way.

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Work Cited

Leith, Sam. Words like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama. Philadelphia: Basic

Books, 2012. Print.

Mathieu, Paula. Tactics of Hope: The Public Turn in English Composition. Portsmouth, New

Hampshire: Boynton/Cook Publishers, Inc., 2005. Print.

Palczewski, Catherine Helen., Richard Ice, and John Fritch. Rhetoric in Civic Life. State College,

PA: Strata Pub., 2012. Print.

Wan, Amy J, “In the Name of Citizenship: The Writing Classroom and the Promise of

Citizenship.” College English 74.1 (2011). 28-47. Web. 7 November 2012.